Trade effluent monitoring

Yes. We routinely inspect and sample trade effluent discharges in order to:

• Check compliance against consent conditions
• Determine the volume and strength of the effluent for charging purposes
• Assess the volumes and strengths of trade effluent being discharged to see what effect they may have on our assets

For any samples taken by Southern Water, you will receive correspondence by email confirming your sample results. If you'd like to receive the original analysis certificate from the laboratory, you'll need to notify your retailer (this will be subject to an annual charge). All sample analyses will also be provided to your retailer.

For each trade effluent consent, the number of samples we'll take will be determined by the risk assigned to the trade effluent. This can vary from zero to 48 samples per year.

Factors considered when calculating the risk of a trade effluent discharge:

• Consented suspended solids limit
• Processes generating the trade effluent
• Capacity of the receiving treatment works
• Maximum permitted volume to be discharged (m3/day)
• Compliance history
• Presence of priority or/and accumulative substance
• Consented chemical oxygen demand (COD) limit

Yes. Your consent will be reviewed on a regular basis. The review frequency will depend on the risk associated with the discharge. This can vary from ‘every 10 years’ for low-risk discharges to ‘yearly’ for high-risk discharges.

The review process may result in the need to vary one or more of the conditions contained within your existing consent. If we discover that we have not been notified of a change, we may request you to formally apply for this via your retailer (an application fee may be applied).

As part of the conditions within the consent, you are expected to notify us of any changes, as you could be in breach of your trade effluent consent.

As part of the consent, you are required to provide a sampling point so that we can take samples of trade effluent for control and charging purposes.

The sample point must offer safe and reasonable access to us at all times. It must also provide a sample of the trade effluent discharged to the public sewer without domestic sewage contamination.

Water Industry Act 1991, section 121: Conditions of the consent – ‘The provision and maintenance of such an inspection chamber or manhole as will enable a person readily to take samples, at any time, of what is passing into the sewer from the trade premises’.

Yes. We may use sample analysis (provided by the retailer or its customer) for the purposes of consent monitoring or calculating trade effluent charges by agreement with the retailer. All such sample analyses must be carried out by a UKAS accredited laboratory and be taken from the previously agreed sample point. 

We may incorporate self-monitoring requirements into trade effluent consents.

We encourage customers to set up self-monitoring programmes, as they can help with the early detection of problems.

Both the occupier of the premises and Southern Water have a duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 to ensure that any visiting Southern Water employees can safely carry out their duties.

Our employees will act with due care for their own health and safety and observe any site-specific health and safety arrangements.